ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide as a “user’s manual” in treatment outcome evaluation and is targeted at practicing clinicians, who may not have the time, training, interest, or resources to conduct funded clinical trials as a way of evaluating treatment effectiveness. It provides a conceptual background regarding the purposes and goals of assessment, in addition to potential targets to assess in determining outcomes. The chapter is concerned with issues of measurement and details specific domains to consider when evaluating treatment outcomes. Many interdisciplinary treatment programs are behavioral or cognitive-behavioral in orientation. The principle commonality pertains to the emphasis placed on thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and other mental processes which are considered to play a contributory role in the development and maintenance of suffering. Cognitive-behavioral approaches have contributed to a line of research concerned with methods of undermining the many avoidant behavior patterns that contribute to suffering in chronic pain patients.
